Many Web sites provide online design services for users desiring to create customized materials, such as business cards, postcards, brochures, invitations, announcements, and the like, from their home or office computer. These sites typically provide their customers with the ability to access the site, review available design templates, and use software tools provided by the site to select a template, add text or other content, and perform various modifications to create a personalized custom product design. After the product has been designed by the user, the sites also typically allow the user to place an order for the production and delivery to the user's home or business of quantities of high quality, printed products of the type that the user is not capable of producing with the printer systems typically connected to most personal computer systems.
Despite the widespread availability and use of home and business computers and despite the advantages in cost, speed, and convenience provided by online design and ordering systems, many individuals and business in need of custom products are still reluctant to use software tools to prepare their products. To serve and assist these people, some printing service providers, such as VistaPrint.com operated by VistaPrint Limited, employ design representatives who will work with the customer and will perform some or all of the product design for the customer.
Traditionally, the process of designer-assisted creation of custom products involves multiple separate review sessions with intervening periods of hours, or more often, days. Known tools for designing electronic products typically are not adapted to “real time” collaborative development of a product design. Traditionally, a design services representative will collect information about the customer and take the order, but the customer at this point disengages from the process. At some later time, without direct customer participation, a designer will review the order and create a candidate design for review by the customer. The customer is then contacted by phone or email and requested to review the candidate design. A representative may participate in the review process, but again typically for the purpose of noting any comments or modifications requested by the customer. After delivering comments, the customer again usually disengages from the process. The designer, again separately, modifies the design for customer. This process may be repeated one or more times.
Many potential problems are inherent in this approach. For example, delays may lead to customer frustration, it may prove difficult or time consuming to contact the customer when the new design is ready for review, and, in some eases, the customer may have a change of mind and decide to terminate the project, resulting in wasted effort by the designer.
To increase customer satisfaction and also increase development speed and productivity of the designers, there is clearly a need for systems and methods that facilitate the rapid cooperative development of custom personalized designs during the course of a single conversation with a customer.